Daniel 1

In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. And the Lord gave Jehoiakim the king of Judah into his hand and some of of the utensils of the temple of God, and he brought them to the land of Shinar to the temple of his gods, and he brought the utensils to the treasury of his gods.

And the king ordered Ashpenaz, the commander of his court officials, to bring some of the Israelites from the royal family and from the lords, youths who have no physical defect, and who arehandsome, and who are prudent in all wisdom and endowed with knowledge, and who understand insight, and who have the ability in them to serve in the palace of the king. And the king ordered him to teach them the literature and the language of the Chaldeans. And the king assigned to them his daily portion from the fine food of the king, and from the wine that he drank, and instructed thatthey were to be educated for three years. And at the end of their training, they were to be stationedbefore the king. Now there was among them from the Judeans, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. And the commander of the court officials gave them names, and he called Daniel, Belteshazzar; and Hananiah, Shadrach; and Mishael, Meshach; and Azariah, Abednego.

Now Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the fine food of the king, and with the wine that he drank, and so he requested from the commander of the court officials permission so that he would not defile himself. And God gave Daniel favor and compassion before the commander of the court officials, and the commander of the court officials said to Daniel, "I am afraid of my lord, the king, who has determined your food and your drink, for why should he see your face having a worse appearance than the young men who are your age? Then you will endanger my head with the king." Then Daniel asked the guard whom the commander of the court officials had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, "Please test your servants for ten days, and let them give us some of the vegetables, and let us eat and let us drink water. Then let our appearances and the appearance of the young men who are eating the fine food of the king be compared before you, and then deal with your servants according to what you see." So he agreed to this proposal with them, and he tested them for ten days. And at the end of ten days their appearances appeared better and they were healthier of body than all the young men who were eating the fine food of the king. So the guard continued to withhold their fine food and the wine of their drink, and he gave them vegetables.

And as for these four young men, God gave to them knowledge and insight into all literature and wisdom, and Daniel had insight into all visions and dreams. And at the end of the time the king had set to bring them, the commander of the court officials brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar. And the king spoke with them, and among all of them no one was found like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah; then they stood before the king. And in every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king inquired from them, he found them ten times better than all of the magicians and conjurers that were in his entire kingdom. And Daniel was there until the first year of Cyrus the king.

Daniel 2

Now in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams; and his spirit was troubled and his sleep left him. So the king said to call the magicians and the conjurers and the sorcerers and the astrologers to tell to the king his dreams. And they came in and they stood before the king. And the king said to them, "I have had a dream and my spirit is anxious to know the dream."

And the astrologers said to the king in Aramaic, "O king, live forever! Tell the dream to your servants and we will reveal the explanation." The king answered and said to the astrologers, "The command from me is firm: if you do not make known to me the dream and its explanation, then you will be broken into pieces and your houses will be laid in ruins. But if you tell me the dream and its explanation, you will receive gifts and rewards and great honor from me. Therefore, tell me the dream and its explanation." They answered once more and said, "Let the king tell the dream to his servants and we will make the explanation known." The king answered and said, "Certainly I know that you are trying to gain timebecause you have seen that this matter is firmly decreed by me, for if you do not make the dream known to me, your verdict is fixed, and you have conspired to say a lying and deceitful word to me until the circumstances will change. Therefore, tell me the dream, and I will know that you can tell me its explanation." The astrologers answered the king and said, "There is not a man on earth that is able to reveal the word of the king; in fact, no great and powerful king has ever asked a thing like this of any magician or conjurer or astrologer. And the thing that the king is asking is too difficult and there is no one who can reveal it to the king except the gods whose dwelling is not with mortals."

Because of this the king became angry, and he became very much enraged, and he said that all the wise men of Babylon are to be destroyed. And the decree was issued, and the wise men were on the verge of being executed, and they searched for Daniel and his companions to be executed. Then Daniel responded prudently and discretely to Arioch, the commander of the imperial guard of the king, who had gone out to execute the wise men of Babylon. He asked and said to Arioch, the royal official of the king, "Why is the decree from the king so severe?" Then Arioch explained the matter to Daniel. And Daniel went in and requested from the king that he would give him time, and he would tell the king the explanation.

Then Daniel went to his home, and he made the matter known to Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, his companions, and told them to seek mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that Daniel and his companions, along with the remainder of the wise men of Babylon, would not be killed.

Then in a vision of the night the mystery was revealed to Daniel; then Daniel blessed the God of heaven.

Daniel said:

"Let his name, the name of God, be blessed throughout the ages,for the wisdom and the power are his.And he changes the times and the seasons,and he deposes kings and he sets up kings;he gives wisdom to wise menand knowledge to men who know understanding.He reveals the deep and the hidden things;he knows what is in the darkness,and the light dwells with him.To you, O God of my ancestors,I give thanks and I give praises,for the wisdom and the power you gave to me,and now you have made known to mewhat we have asked from you,for you have made known to us the matter of the king."

Therefore Daniel went to Arioch, whom the king had appointed to destroy the wise men of Babylon; he went and thus he said to him: "You must not destroy the wise men of Babylon; take me in before the king and I will give the explanation to the king."

Then Arioch quickly brought Daniel in before the king and thus he said to him: "I have found a man among the exiles of Judah who can relate the explanation to the king. The king then asked and said to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, "Are you able to make known to me the dream that I have seen and its explanation?" Daniel answered the king and said, "The mystery that the king asks, no wise men, conjurers, magicians, or diviners are able to make known to the king. But there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and he has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what it is that will be at the end of days. This is your dream and the visions of your head on your bed.

"As for you, king, your thoughts on your bed turned to what it was that would be in the future, and the revealer of mysteries has made known to you what that would be. And as for me, it is not because of wisdom that is in me more than any other living personthat this mystery is revealed to me, but in order that the explanation may be made known to the king and you will understand the thoughts of your mind.

"You, O king, were looking and, look, there was one great statue. This statue was huge and its brilliance extraordinary, standing there before you, and its appearance was frightening. The head of this statue was of fine gold, its chest and its arms of silver, its belly and its thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet, part of them of iron and part of them of clay. You were looking on until a stone was chiseled out—that not by hands—and it struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay, and it broke them in pieces. Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold all at once broke into pieces and they became like chaff from the summer threshing floor, and the wind carried them away and any trace of them could not be found. But the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain and it filled the whole earth.

"This was the dream, and now we will tell its interpretation to the king. You, O king, the king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given the kingdom, the power and the might and the glory, and alsohuman beings wherever they dwell, the animals of the field and the birds of heaven—he has given into your hand and made you ruler over all of them—you are the head of gold. And after you another kingdom inferior to yours will arise, and another third kingdom of bronze that will rule over the whole earth. And a fourth kingdom will be strong as iron, andjust as iron crushes and smashes everything, and as iron shatters all of these other metals, so it will crush and it will shatter these nations. And just as you saw the feet and the toes, partly potter’s clay and partly iron, it will be a divided kingdom; and some hardness of the iron will be in it, just as you have seen the iron mixed with the wet clay. And as the toes of the feet were partly iron and partly clay, so part of the kingdom will be strong and partly brittle. And in that you saw the iron was mixed with wet clay, sothey will mix in marriage and they will not cling to one another, just as iron does not mix with clay. And in the day of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, and the kingdom will not be left for another nation, and it will bring an end to all these kingdoms, but it will stand forever. Inasmuch as you saw that a stone from the mountain was chiseled out but not by hands, and that it crushed the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver and the gold, thereby the great God made known to the king what will be in the future, and the dream is certain and its explanation trustworthy."

Then the king, Nebuchadnezzar, fell on his face and he paid homage to Daniel; and he commanded them to offer a grain offering and incense offering to him. The king answered Daniel and said, "Truly your God is the God of gods and the Lord of kings, and he reveals mysteries, for you are able to reveal this mystery." Then the king promoted Daniel and gave him many great gifts, and made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon and the chief prefect over all the wise men of Babylon. And Daniel made a request from the king, and he appointed Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego over the affairs of the province of Babylon, while Daniel remained in the court of the king.

Daniel 3

Nebuchadnezzar the king made a statue of gold. Its height was sixty cubits and its width was six cubits; he set it up in the valley of Dura in the province of Babylon. Then Nebuchadnezzar the king sent directions to assemble the satraps, the prefects, and the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the judges, the magistrates and all of the officials of the provinces to come to the dedication of the statue that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up. Then the satraps, the prefects, the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the judges, the magistrates, and all the officials of the province were assembled for the dedication of the statue that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up, and were standing before the statue that Nebuchadnezzar had set up. Then the herald proclaimed aloud, "To you it is commanded, O peoples, nations and people of all languages, that at the time that you hear the sound of the horn, the flute, the lyre, the trigon, the harp, the drum and all kinds of music, you must fall down and you must worship the statue of gold that Nebuchadnezzar the king has set up. And whoever does not fall down and worship will be thrown immediately into the midst of the furnace of blazing fire." Therefore, at that time, as soon as all the peoples heard the sound of the horn, the flute, the lyre, the trigon, the harp and all kinds of music, all the peoples, the nations and people of all languageswere falling down and were worshiping the statue of gold that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up.

Thereforeat this timesomeastrologers came forward and they denounced the Jews. They responded and said to Nebuchadnezzar the king, "O king, may you live forever! You, O king, have made a decree that everyone who hears the sound of the horn, the flute, the lyre, the trigon, the harp and the drum and all kinds of music, he shall fall down and shall worship the statue of gold. And whoeverdoes not fall down and worship shall be thrown into the midst of the furnace of blazing fire. However there are Judean men whom you have appointed over the affairs of the province of Babylon—Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego—these men, O king, pay you no heedandwere not serving your god, and the statue of gold that you set up they are not worshiping."

Then Nebuchadnezzar said in rage and anger to bring in Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego; then they brought in these men before the king. Nebuchadnezzar answered and said to them, "Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, that you are not serving my god, and you are not worshiping the statue of gold that I have set up? Now if you are ready so that when you hear the sound of the horn, the flute, the lyre, the trigon, the harp and the drum and all kinds of music, you fall down and you worship the statue that I have made, that will be good. But if you do not worship it, immediately you will be thrown into the midst of the furnace of blazing fire, and who is the god who will rescue you from my hands?"

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego answered and said to the king, Nebuchadnezzar, "We have no need on this matter to present a defense to you. If it is so, our God, whom we serve, is able to rescue us from the furnace of blazing fire. And from your hand, O king, let him rescue us. And if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods, and the statue of gold that you have set up we will not worship."

Then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with anger and the image of his face was changed toward Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, so heordered and said to heat up the one furnace seven times what was usual to heat it up. And he commanded the strongest men of the guards who were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and to throw them into the furnace of blazing fire. Then these men were bound with their garments, their trousers and their turbans and their other clothing, and they were thrown into the midst of the furnace of blazing fire. Thereforebecause the word of the king was severe and the furnace was exceedingly hot, the flame of the fire killed these men who lifted up Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. But these men, the three of them, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, fell down into the midst of the furnace of blazing fire, and they were bound.

Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonished, and he rose up in haste and he asked, saying to his advisers, "Did we not throw three men, bound, into the midst of the fire? They answered, saying to the king, "Certainly, O king!" He answered, saying, "Look, I see four men unbound walking in the midst of the fire and there is no damage to them, and the appearance of the fourth man resembles the son of a god." Then Nebuchadnezzar approached the door of the furnace of blazing fire, and he called out, saying, "Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out and come here!" And the satraps, the prefects, the governors and the advisors of the king were assembling, and they saw these men, that the fire had no power over their bodies, and the hair of their heads was not singed, and their garments were not harmed, and the smell of fire did not come from them.

Nebuchadnezzar responded, saying, "Blessed be their God, the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who sent his angel and rescued his servants who trusted in him, and the command of the king they disobeyed, and they gave their bodies so that they did not serve and did not worship any god except their God. And from me is set forth a decree that any people, nation, or language that may utter criticism against their God—the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego—will be broken into pieces and their house will be made like ruins. For there is not another God who is able to rescue like this God." Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the province of Babylon.

Psalm 88

A song. A psalm of the sons of Korah.

For the music director; according to Mahalath Leannoth.

A maskil of Heman the Ezrahite.

O Yahweh, God of my salvation,I cry out by day and through the night before you.Let my prayer come before you;incline your ear to my cry.For my soul is full with troubles,and my life approaches Sheol.I am reckoned with those descending to the pit.I am like a man without strength,set free among the dead,like the slain lying in the grave,whom you no longer remember,even those cut off from your hand.You have set me in the pit below,in dark places, in the depths.Your wrath presses upon me,and you afflict me with all your waves. SelahYou have removed my acquaintances far from me.You have made me detestable to them.I am confined and cannot go out.My eye languishes from misery.I call on you, O Yahweh, every day;I spread out my hands to you.Do you work wonders for the dead?Or do the departed spirits rise up to praise you? SelahIs your loyal love told in the grave,or your faithfulness in the underworld?Are your wonders known in the darkness,or your righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?But as for me, I cry for help to you, O Yahweh,and in the morning my prayer comes before you.Why do you reject my soul, O Yahweh?Why do you hide your face from me?I am afflicted and perishing from my youth.I bear your terrors. I am distraught.Your burning anger has passed over me;your sudden fears have destroyed me.They surround me like water all the day;they circle about me altogether.You have removed loved one and friend far from me,my acquaintances far from my darkness.

John 17

Jesus said these things, and lifting up his eyes to heaven he said, "Father, the hour has come! Glorify your Son, in order that your Son may glorify you—just as you have given him authority over all flesh, in order that he would give eternal life to them—everyone whom you have given him. Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. I have glorified you on earth by completing the work that you have given me to do. And now, Father, you glorify me at your side with the glory that I had at your side before the world existed.

"I have revealed your name to the men whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours, and you have given them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they understand that all the things that you have given me are from you, because the words that you gave to me I have given to them, and they received them and know truly that I have come from you, and they have believed that you have sent me. I am asking on behalf of them. I am not asking on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those whom you have given me, because they are yours, and all my things are yours, and your thingsare mine, and I have been glorified in them. And I am no longer in the world, and they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given to me, so that they may be one, just as we are. When I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given to me, and guarded them, and none of them has perished except the son of destruction, in order that the scripture would be fulfilled. And now I am coming to you, and I am saying these things in the world so that they may have my joy completed in themselves. I have given them your word, and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world just as I am not of the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth—your word is truth. Just as you sent me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. And for them I sanctify myself, so that they themselves also may be sanctified in the truth.

"And I do not ask on behalf of these only, but also on behalf of those who believe in me through their word, that they all may be one, just as you, Father, are in me and I am in you, that they also may be in us, in order that the world may believe that you sent me. And the glory that you have given to me, I have given to them, in order that they may be one, just as we are one—I in them, and you in me, in order that they may be completed in one, so that the world may know that you sent me, and you have loved them just as you have loved me.

"Father, those whom you have given to me—I want that those also may be with me where I am, in order that they may see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. Righteous Father, although the world does not know you, yet I have known you, and these men have come to know that you sent me. And I made known to them your name, and will make it known, in order that the love with which you loved me may be in them, and I may be in them."